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Anonymous writes...

if you only intended for there to be a handful of characters that are leads, why didn't you keep the cast small like season 1 instead of adding a bunch of characters you have no intention of focusing on? that way, people could have focused on the mains without being distracted by the characters who are background. can you really blame people for being disappointed when their favorite character shows up, only for the show to do nothing with them and move onto someone else?

Greg responds...

I don't blame people.

Why are you blaming me for making the show I want to make? (Or more accurately, the show that Brandon and I want to make, and which many, many, many fans seem to enjoy?)

I've already answered over and over again why we have always continued to expand our cast. Why some characters are leads in a given season. Why some are supporting. Why some are cameos. Why our spotlight moves around as it does. Feel free to go through the ASK GREG archives and get the lowdown. I'm definitely not in the mood to repeat myself.

But I will make these points:

Blue Beetle was a lead in Season Two. In Season Three he was supporting. In Season Three he only cameod. But should we have NEVER introduced him, just because we didn't make him a lead EVERY season?

Zatanna was supporting in seasons one, two and three. She became a lead for a chunk of Season Four. Should we never have introduced her either?

And if, for example, we made Wonder Girl a lead in Season Five (assuming we get a season five and assuming that's in our gameplan), should we have waited UNTIL Season Five to introduce her? Or might not her Season Five characterization BENEFIT from her having been introduced earlier and us having watched her grow at least a little from a Wonder Woman fangirl in Season Two, to the leader of the Outsiders in Season Four, leading up to whatever might be depicted in Five? And if we then dropped her back down to Supporting in Season Six, would that mean we should never have made her a lead in Season Five?

Different fans might disagree about their specific favorites, but I'd bet anything that NO FAN wanted us to have six heroes and NEVER introduce any more ever. It's a big DC Universe out there. And nearly every fan is frickin' greedy for their favorites to appear.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Notice how in season 1, no one felt the need to bring up the fact that Aqualad is black? He just is, and he was a well-developed character. Same with Jaime in season 2 - he's clearly Latino by his name and appearance and sprinkles Spanish into his speech, other than that his character had a compelling storyline that had nothing to do with his race. That's how you do diverse representation properly.

Whereas with Halo and Khalid, the audience is outright told that they're Muslim instead of shown, and it's a big part of both of their arcs. YJ is a superhero show with an ensemble cast that doesn't go super deep into the character's personal lives, and religion is personal - that's why we don't know the majority of the characters' religion.

To harp on it so much with the two Muslim characters reinforces this idea that Muslims are "others," that we're not "normal" like white Christians and that we're all extremely conservative and ultra religious. It would have been nice to have a character that's visibly Muslim (Halo's hijab) or shown to be Muslim in subtle ways (like by saying certain Arabic phrases or mention celebrating a holiday) and just let them be a normal character with a compelling storyline.

You guys had representation down perfectly in the first two seasons, I don't know why you've changed the approach?

Greg responds...

Wow, I disagree with just about EVERYTHING you've written above.

For starters, you're not TOLD Halo is Muslim. You're shown that they're exploring whether Islam might hold some meaning for them. You're not TOLD Khalid is Muslim, you're shown what his Muslim heritage means to him.

And I think both characters have extremely compelling storylines. You don't have to agree, of course. But I don't have to agree with you, either. And I think you're just WRONG.

And we sometimes do go into religion for other characters. Zatara immediately springs to mind since we showed his faith in the very same episode in which we explored Khalid's religion - and in the one that follows.

I don't think either Khalid or Halo are presented as ultra religious, either. Certainly, Halo's not. They're not even certain they want to be Muslim yet. (They're exploring!) I don't even think Khalid's mother is presented as ultra religious, really, though I'll admit you could make that argument about her. And Gabrielle's mother is talking about religion ONLY because Violet asked her about it. She's not proslytizing.

Zatara's the only guy, actually, whom we see kneeling in church and praying. Why doesn't THAT bother you? Is he suddenly "other" and not "normal".

I mean, sure, he is. That's the point. WE ARE ALL OUTSIDERS. Everyone is different. With different needs and different wants. Faith being one of many, many, many variables worth exploring.

And we have other Muslim characters who NEVER mention their faith at all. Queen Bee and Noor Harjavti, to name a couple. One's a villain, and one's pretty minor. But my point is that we don't have any rules. We're doing what we think is right for each of our characters individually.

And I don't think we have "changed the approach." I think we've evolved it. We're going deeper. (Cuz, you know, we're in our fourth season.) Deeper in TONS of ways. Deeper into Beast Boy's mental health. Deeper into Artemis and Jade's difficult childhood. Deeper into Halo's sexuality. Why should religion be off-limits? Especially, since EVERY single Muslim we consulted with and who worked on the season liked what we were doing and helped us get there. This has a positive meaning to many people. I know cuz they've told me that. And again, that doesn't mean YOU have to like it. It just means you can't possibly claim to be speaking for everyone. Not even for every Muslim.

And while I'm at it, I wouldn't be shy about going into Jaime's Mexican heritage. Hasn't come up yet. But I'm not saying it won't. It could become a big issue, if and when we go deeper into his character. Might hit on his Catholicism. Might not. But I wouldn't shy away from it.

Kaldur's blackness is pretty much a non-issue in Atlantis, but we have dealt with his lack of "purity" to certain racist Atlanteans in our companion comics. It's a metaphor. And not a subtle one. So you are OBJECTIVELY WRONG when you say we didn't deal with race. We did. IN DEPTH.

But my real issue, is that I really, REALLY don't like you trying to rein us in and tell us what is and isn't worthy of our attention. It grates on me that you're speaking in absolutes, as if there's only ONE GOOD WAY TO MAKE A SHOW. And, again, I disagree. Strongly. (Or was that not clear?)

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Paul writes...

Hi Greg!

1) Is there any particular reason why Troia and Sergeant Marvel have their hair tied back? I ask because I don’t think this is the case in the comics, and because other superheroines in YJ do not have their hair tied back (Miss Martian, Zatanna, Wonder Girl). (I suppose maybe Artemis and Batgirl did though and I’m just not remembering that fact for some reason.)

2) How does Sergeant Marvel compare in terms of strength to Superboy, Troia, and Wonder Girl?

Greg responds...

1. Artemis did as Artemis. She doesn't as Tigress.

Out of Universe, it's a design choice, made in a three-way discussion between our character designer(s), Brandon and myself. In universe, chalk it up to each character's personal choice.

2. I've never liked these kind of comparisons, but of the four, Superboy is the strongest. The other three are all pretty close to equal. Although, everything is situational.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Secret writes...

Questions about the Memorial Holograms
1. How long does it take for them to display the memorial hologram when a hero has died?
2. Do they do it immediately or wait sometime until it’s ready?
3. Who came up with the idea to display the holograms in the first place?
4. Who is responsible for setting them when they are ready?
5. When exactly did the Team display Wally, Conner and Tula’s holograms? Specially day and month!

Greg responds...

1. I'm not clear on what your asking. Like how long does it take to prep a hologram? Not long.

2. How could they do it before it's ready? It would be fairly soon after the funeral, I suppose.

3. No spoilers.

4. I dunno. I guess ultimately it is the responsibility of the League Chair. The buck stops with them. Doesn't mean they do it personally.

5. Again, it would have been shortly after the funeral. I haven't fixed a specific date for it.

Response recorded on October 04, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Why have there been multiple episodes where tim drake is involved in a scene but doesn't speak? In the season 2 episode before the dawn, he is on alpha squad with Barbara, but she is the only one who talks to nightwing and he just pulls faces the whole time. Same goes for that infamous season 3 episode antisocial pathologies where once again, only Barbara talks and he makes faces. Even when Beast Boy addresses him directly.

This isn't just due to him being a supporting character - Barbara is a supporting character too and she's allowed to speak. Even Stephanie Brown got a line in before the dawn, and she wasn't spoiler yet. These are scenes in which he's featured and it would make sense for him to at least say a few words. It looks awkward when he doesn't, it's almost like you're going out of your way to ensure he gets no lines.

Tim is the only Robin that has never been in an animated movie or series (the DCAU version doesn't count, it was Jason with Tim's name) but his traits are constantly stolen and given to the others. I was so excited to finally see him in YJ. I can accept that he's not a main character, but the way he's treated in the show is bizzare and to be honest, feels borderline disrespectful to the character and his fans.

Greg responds...

Sigh.

So, there's this thing. It's called a BUDGET. It forces us to make hard choices ALL THE TIME. And, I will admit that poor Tim has taken the brunt of that a few more times than I would like. But that's the reality. There's no disrespect intended toward either the character or his fans. I do feel bad for Cameron Bowen, who is immensely talented and does a great job playing Tim/Robin. And I'd love to give him more work as the character. But the fact is that him speaking isn't always essential to our story, and we do not have an unlimited voice budget.

But let me try to spell a few things out.

1. Stephanie Brown is voiced by the same actor who plays Wonder Girl. So if we're using Cassie in an episode, we get Stephanie for free. So why not give her a line or two? Note that, like Tim, we also didn't give Virgil a line in that episode, cuz we didn't have the budget for it.

2. We felt, in "Antisocial Pathologies," that we NEEDED Barbara to speak. She had a scene with Bruce that required her to speak. On the other hand, we felt we could get away with Tim not speaking in the episode. I'll admit it's a little awkward, but the audience still gets the gist of the thing. And by the way, neither Conner or M'gann spoke in that episode either. We'd have liked all three of them to speak, but the budget wouldn't allow it.

3. When Tim does have a significant role, such as in "Triptich," then of course we bring Cameron in, gladly, and give Tim lines. And if you look at that episode there are other characters who appear who do NOT get to speak. Because we chose to spend our budget on Tim and the other characters that did speak.

Now, with that out of the way, let's talk for a moment about disrespect. About the ASSUMPTION that just because you don't like something or it doesn't live up to your pre-conceived expectations, that characters and fans are being disrespected. Because I find that incredibly grating. You don't have to like my stuff - but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop assigning MOTIVES to me. THAT is disrespectful.

Response recorded on October 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hi Greg, you previously answered that you needed to keep Halo's origin of Gabrielle being dead because that's built into the character in the comics: https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=24738

I have trouble accepting this reason, because you already changed the character's entire race and background from the comics. Moreover, you've changed the origins of Beast Boy and Oracle, and I get the sense you may have created a different story behind Jason Todd's death. You created an entirely different version of Aqualad. These characters are far more well-known than Halo, and you weren't afraid to change key things about them.

You could've easily made it so that the Motherbox resurrected Gabrielle instead of killing a teenage Muslim refugee and reanimating her corpse. You chose not to. Why?

Greg responds...

Agreed. We chose not to. We liked the basics of Halo's origins from the comics and wanted to keep it. I'm not disowning that. Why should I?

Response recorded on October 03, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Is Brion fully mind controlled by Zviad? Does he not have his own will? Is every decision he makes really a Zviad decision?

Greg responds...

He has his own will. As STATED CLEARLY on the show, Zviad can only nudge him toward his own worse impulses. (Or occasionally toward any impulse, really.)

Response recorded on October 03, 2022

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Matt Itelson writes...

Does Tim have stealth-tech in his costume or is he capable of sneaking without it like Dick?

Greg responds...

We generally play the Robins as not needing it, do to their training.

Response recorded on September 30, 2022

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Marvelman writes...

1) Do Beast Boy & Miss Martian know that it was Queen Bee who murdered Marie Logan?

2) Do they want justice or revenge?

3) Have they not pursued justice because there just isn't a viable way of doing that - short of murdering a head of state?

Greg responds...

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. Who says they haven't pursued it?

Response recorded on September 28, 2022

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Caleb writes...

Hey, Greg!

Some Zeta questions that hopefully don't cross the line into spoilers.

1. You've revealed that Jay Garrick and Bart Allen were given the Zeta designations A-13 and A-14 respectively, but we haven't seen those numbers used on screen. So how are they actually read out by the computer? Is it Flash A-13 and Impulse A-14, or Jay Garrick A-13 and Bart Allen A-14, or one codename and one secret identity?
2. Same question for Lucas "Snapper" Carr A-01. Is he Snapper, Snapper Carr, Lucas Carr?
3. Is there an in-universe reason why Dick, when assigning G-series designations, used the last name-comma-first name format when the A-series designations we've seen are just first name-last name?

And a couple that I think will be spoilers:

4. Did Eduardo Dorado, Sr receive a Zeta designation during/because of his work on the Erdel Initiative?
5. Were the Doom Patrol ever given Zeta designations during a hypothetical JL/DP crossover adventure?

Greg responds...

1. A-13 was Jay Garrick. A-14 was Impulse.

2. A-01 was Snapper Carr but was updated to Lucas Carr between Seasons One and Two.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.

5. No spoilers. (You had to push your luck, Caleb.)

Response recorded on September 28, 2022

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Manny writes...

Hi, Greg. Amazing show, loving Phantoms so far (ep. 13, waiting for the date for the 2nd part of the season).
Why you can say that Robin (Tim) and Wonder Girl (Cassie) are done for but not if Zatanna and Dick are done for? It’s because Tim and Cass are not as important as Dick and Zee?
Did you expect for your new relationships to be as well accepted as they were or they surpass your expectations? I’m talking about Spitfire, SuperMartian and Chalant that became fan favorites in no time.
Anyway hope you and yours stay whelmed and much health to all of you.

Greg responds...

1. This is exactly why I shouldn't ever say anything. Because fans compare responses to different questions and then make assumptions based on those comparisons. Cassie and Tim are very clearly over in the show. Dick is very clearly with Barbara. Beyond that... write your own fanfiction, I guess.

2. Everyone forgets. Back in the day, I got a TON of negative feedback on both the Superboy/Miss Martian relationship and on the Artemis/Kid Flash relationship. Now, they're held up as perfection and used to attack what we've done since. It's a head shaker, mostly.

Response recorded on September 28, 2022

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Mark writes...

Is the Klamulon Commander from "Nightmare Monkeys" Der'Chow, or a different character also played by Harvey?

Greg responds...

A different character also played by Harvey.

Response recorded on September 27, 2022

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Cori writes...

Before Rita join the doom patrol did Rita and Garfield live in a house or an apartment in the young justice universe? Did the doom patrol live in a mansion in young justice universe?

Greg responds...

No spoilers.

Response recorded on September 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

For Young Justice why did you guys have damian so young? By season 4 if everyone aged right shouldn't damian be around 10-15 because during the new 52 movies he is apart of the teen titans. I guess what I'm trying to ask without spoiling the plot of the show is why wait till now to introduce damian and why at such a young age?

Greg responds...

We have NOTHING to do with the New 52 movies. Nothing. NOTHING. I mean, we don't even have a team called the TEEN TITANS. Anything relating to other media interpretations of the character is completely moot, unless Brandon or I state clearly that something is either canon or canon-adjacent to Earth-16.

Damian is a baby in Season Three. How would it make any sense for him to be 10-15 in Season Four when so little time passed between seasons.

I really can't win. Some folks complain about the time skips. You're complaining that we didn't skip 9-14 years. If we did, Dick Grayson would be somewhere between 32 and 37 years old already. Is that what you want?

As for why we started Damien out so young, it's because we want multiple generations and sub-generations of characters. Not everyone needs to be the exact same age or appearing at the exact same time.

Still, you'll note that Jonny Kent is close in age to Damian. Artur, Lian and Amistad are just a bit older, etc. So down the road - WAY down the road - that does create possibilities, at least.

Response recorded on September 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Mr. Weisman,

Since Vandal Savage has taken numerous aliases of famous historical figures, does that mean that, in Earth-16's historical records, the birthdates of these figures are actually FALSE; while the dates of their "deaths" are technically TRUE in some sense (assuming Vandal Savage disappeared during each "death.")?

Greg responds...

Stands to reason, I suppose.

Response recorded on September 27, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

If Icicle Jr. was technically still in love with Tuppence Terror (despite the fact that Miss Martian having posed as her), than why haven't asked her out yet? Is because he's worried that her twin brother, Tommy, will beat Icicle, Jr. up if he tries to date his twin sister?

Greg responds...

I think it's clear he HAS asked her out. Multiple times. Probably an inappropriate number of multiple times, knowing Junior. I don't think he's worried about Tommy. I don't think Tommy's worried about him. And Tup can handle herself.

I also don't think Junior really is "in love" with Tuppence. He just wants to be in love.

Response recorded on September 21, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

In "Home Fires," did I hear correctly that Iris West-Allen called her son, Don Allen, by the nickname, "Donnie"?

Greg responds...

You did. Although, I can't remember if we spelled it Donnie or Donny in the script.

Response recorded on September 21, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Questions in regards to Earth-16's Lois Lane:

#1. Is her current full name Lois Joanne Lane-Kent?

#2. Is her father General Samuel "Sam" Lane?

#3. Is her sister Lucile "Lucy" Lane?

#4. Does she have a younger paternal half-brother named Leonardo "Leo" Lane; like in the comics?

#5. Are she and her husband (Clark) currently taking sabbaticals from the Daily Planet in order to raise their son, Jonathan "Jonny" Samuel Kent?

Greg responds...

1. I don't know her middle name. I'd have to research that. She did not hyphenate her last name. She's still Lois Lane.

2. Her father is Samuel Lane.

3. No spoilers.

4. Never heard of him. But no spoilers.

5. Define "currently"?

Response recorded on September 20, 2022

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Pence writes...

What USA state was Rita Farr's home in before she join the doom patrol? What USA state had the doom patrol HQ ?

Greg responds...

I dunno. That hasn't come up yet. I'd have to do some research to answer definitively.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Spikeman writes...

How was beast boy able to commutate with his doom patrol teammates on missions in animal form or work with the other doom patrol members on missions if he could not commutate in animal form on missions?

Greg responds...

He couldn't, largely, without going human in between shape-shifts to various animals. Though a surprising amount can be communicated with a grunt, as Mallah has demonstrated.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Taylor writes...

When was Garfield given his first Martian bio suit why he not given speakers so he could speak when animal form like he has in young justice outsiders?

Greg responds...

He got his first bio-suit sometime between season one and season two. The speakers - adapted from the Brain's technology - didn't exist for the heroes until after Season Two.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Shouta writes...

In the young justice universe how did Beast Boy find out Superman was Clark Kent?

Greg responds...

I don't tell stories in this forum.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Troia writes...

Why does Cassie wear a hairband into the field if her hair still falls in front of her face?

Greg responds...

I assume she likes it for some reason or another.

Response recorded on September 15, 2022

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Anonymous writes...

Hello mr.weisman
I've got couple of questions about miss martian and martians in general. (and sorry if i have grammar mistakes because English is not my native language)
1-how strong is miss martian telekinesis? you've shown her lifting cars easily but could she lift a truck by her telekinesis? what about a tank?
2-martians can't change mass so would increasing volume make them less strong and durable as their density decrease? would they become even weaker than a human if they grow into the size of a building?
3-could she make herself elastic enough for bullets to bounce off from her?(as it was demonstrated by metamorpho in the show)
4-is it possible for a martian (with enough practice) to make telekinetic constructs?

Greg responds...

1. Have we shown her lifting cars? I can't remember an instance of that. But my memory isn't what it used to be. Anyway, I would think that a VW Bug would be a challenging lift for her.

2. They'd still be as strong as a normal human, probably. But a normal human of normal size. Not a GIANT HUMAN.

3. I don't think it was Metamorpho's elasticity that was making bullets bounce off him.

4. I don't know what that means.

Response recorded on September 14, 2022

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Kevin writes...

1. What are Magog's powers/abilities on Earth 16?
2. Is the character J.W. from the play canon to Young Justice or was that just for the radio play?
3. Would telepaths be considered metahumans or is it's own thing?
4. What does Martian sorcery consist of? By that I mean if Atlantean sorcery is hard water constructs, Zatanna speaks backwards for a variety of effects what does Martian sorcery do? If that is too broad what was it doing onscreen was it light manipulation?
5. Why didn’t the Scarab explain it wasn’t allied with the Reach because of it malfunctioning?

Greg responds...

1. No spoilers.

2. Not canon. At least not yet.

3. Not all telepaths are meta-humans. Not all meta-humans are telepaths. Miss Martian is a telepath, but she's not a meta-human. She's a Martian. Looker is also a telepath, and she is a meta-human. Static is a meta-human, but he isn't a telepath. Basically, think of telepathy as an ability. Like walking. Dogs can walk. Cats can walk. But not all dogs are cats, etc.

4. There's not one thing. Not even for Atlanteans. La'gaan's specialty has nothing to do with water manipulation. As for Martian sorcery, I feel like we showed a range of things on screen. I'll leave it at that.

5. I assume you're asking about S2. But I'm not sure I understand the question. Initially, it didn't talk about the Reach because it had no memory of having any connection to the Reach. Or of the Reach at all. If you're asking why it didn't tell Jaime it no longer wanted to serve the Reach after the Reach took control of it and Jaime, the answer is because it was being monitored at all times.

Response recorded on September 14, 2022


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